The waiter brings their order after ten minutes and Anna immediately begins picking the ham off the ham and lettuce sandwich. Meat finally moved to the side of the plate, she takes a nibble. ‘At least the dressing’s low-fat. I can’t even swallow full-fat,’ she says. ‘It’s so cloying.’ Joanne, who ordered for both of […]

Recently I asked my father when he stopped believing in God. This is what he told me: I was at university by then, and the familiar faces of our household had grown crooked and grey. Sometimes I was away for prolonged periods, in summer camps perfecting my long jump or doing social work under the […]

‘That Henry James. He knew a view when he saw one,’ said Mrs Gilfeather to herself as she looked out from the campanile of San Giorgio Maggiore. She was on her own up there because Raymond had flatly refused to accompany her to the top. ‘I’m a feet-on-the-ground sort of bloke,’ he’d said. Mrs Gilfeather […]

The composer prefers to address the choir with the manuscript laid out before her, as if she were a priest. She bends over the sheaf of papers, examining the first page. She must have done this a thousand times, but she still worries that one day she’ll turn up and be unable to read what’s […]

I ring the bell and wait at the door alone today. Tung said he was feeling achy and needed to lie down. That sounds grand, really, what with this humidity. And yet I cannot bring myself to stay away. Our grandson doesn’t care for us, but he knows us. If we do not come, who […]

Jason Jawando was born in Manchester but has spent most of his adult life in the West Midlands. He has a BA in Literature and an MA in Creative Writing, both from the Open University. Jason began writing fiction while he was an undergraduate. He has had around fifteen short stories published, most recently in […]

Melkon Charchoglyan is a writer originally from Armenia – a country he had to leave at a young age following the collapse of the USSR. He grew up in Moscow, before his family moved again and settled in Kent. These itinerant years left a deep impression on him. He subsequently studied Classics at the University […]

Jane Lo lives in Hong Kong with her husband and two young children. She was raised in Hong Kong and Vancouver, and holds degrees in English Literature and Religion. She is a teacher; in the past, she taught secondary school English and Religious Studies, and now teaches academic English in the university setting. She sometimes […]

Annalisa Crawford lives in Cornwall, UK, with a good supply of moorland and beaches to keep her inspired. She lives with her husband, two sons and canine writing partner, Artoo. Annalisa writes dark, contemporary, character-driven stories, with a hint of the paranormal. She has had many short stories published online and in small-press journals, and […]

Carol Farrelly is a fiction writer. She is currently working on a collection of short stories and a novel. She holds a DPhil on Thomas Hardy’s fiction. She lived for one gloriously dreamy year in Italy and is in love with all things Venetian. Her novel, This Starling Flock, was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish […]